Jody Bound kicked of the Outlaw Midget season in style as he dominated at Sunset Speedway on Saturday night en route to winning the series season opener.
Adam Carrothers won the first heat ahead of Owen Elliott, Robin McLean, Jessica James, Owen Elliott, Adam Tyo and Nigel Buttivant.
Bound won the second heat ahead of Shawn Gardener, Brian Woodland, Paul Draganac, Lorne Van Dusen Jr. and Richard Greenfield.
James Rodgers won the third heat ahead of Steve Lassman, Rob McCall, Mike Bradley, Raynor Vickers and Kevin Spiesz. Notably, Spiesz spun with three laps to go.
Bound went for the daily double, winning the Fast Qualifer’s Dash ahead of Lassman, Carrothers, Elliott and Rodgers.
Come feature time, it’d be Mike Bradley starting pole ahead of Draganoc, James, McCall, Woodland, Elliott, Lassman, Gardener, Bound, Tyo, Carrothers, Van Dusen Jr. Greenfield, Buttivant, McLean and Spiesz.
Bradley took the early lead, putting the No. 53 Midget out front ahead of James. Spiez pulled off with a mechanical issue on Lap 2 as Elliott got alongside James for second. Elliott took the spot, and then passed Bradley on Lap 4 to put the No. 29 Midget into the lead, as Bradley battled James for second.
James got the spot on Lap 5, with Bound getting by Bradley to move into third as Greenfield pulled off with a mechanical issue. Bound got alongside Elliott for the lead on Lap 6, but wasn’t able to clear before the caution flew for a spin by Lassman.
Bound got a good restart to put the No. 5 Larry’s Small Engines, Midas Orangeville, NTN Bearings, Team K-OS and Interstate Batteries Midget out front ahead of Elliott and James. Brian Woodland made his move to the front, getting by James to take third and bringing Gardener through with him.
Woodland looked to make the move on Elliott for second, but contact happened resulting in Elliott going around. Van Dusen Jr. and Vickers also got caught up in the aftermath, with Vickers flipping over.
There were no injuries; however both Vickers and Elliot were done for the afternoon. At the halfway mark, Bound led Gardener, James, McCall, Bradley, Carrothers, Draganoc, Lassman, Tyo, Buttivant, Woodland and McLean. Unfortunately, McLean didn’t make the restart as he’d stall.
Bound got a good restart to keep the lead ahead of Gardner as McCall moved into third ahead of James, Carrothers and Bradley. Lassman kept gaining ground, passing Bradley to move up to sixth on Lap 12. McCall’s podium run came to an end when he had a big wiggle at Lap 13, allowing James to get by for third and bring Carrothers through with her. McCall now ran sixth ahead of Lassman and Woodland.
McCall began to make his way back to the front, though, taking the fourth spot on Lap 16 ahead of Lassman and Woodland as Carrothers fell back. The passing continued, as James got by Gardener to move up into second on Lap 17, with McCall and Lassman following through a lap later.
At the front of the field, Jody Bound cruised to the victory ahead of Jessica James. Rob McCall and Steve Lassman got together on the last lap, allowing Brian Woodland to get third ahead of Shawn Gardener and Mike Bradley. Paul Draganac finished sixth, followed by Adam Carrothers, Adam Tyo, Rob McCall, Lorne Van Dusen Jr. and Steve Lassman.